Photo 180 - 4th of July

This 4th of July, Short Person and I headed out to Vernonia to watch the parade that my nephew and Dad were going to be in for Boy Scouts. I was also picking up my niece so that she could spend the week with us. When we got there, I found out that my niece was going to walk in the parade too. They invited Short Person to walk with them, and after some hmm-ing and haw-ing, she accepted.

This is Short Person and Little Bit anxiously waiting for the parade to start.

My nephew got to carry the American Flag at the beginning of the Parade, which I thought was way cool. My dad is helping him get ready and get the weight of the flag balanced. I tried taking more pictures of my nephew, but he caught on to it and started hiding. At one point, he told me that I should tell him when I was going to take a photo and I had to laugh in response because, as I told him, he'd just do a better job of hiding then!

Following close behind were Short Person and Little Bits with my dad. Short Person had the wave down perfectly (I have no idea where she learned it from) and waved the entire route. It was a lot of fun to watch the three of them.

Since the Boy Scouts started the parade they were the first ones finished, which allowed the girls to sit with me and watch the remaining entries and collect candy. The horses won the favorite award from both of them and so when one of the beauties came to stand just feet away it was hard to say no to their pleas to be able to pet him. After walking up and asking politely if they could pet the young horse, and gaining instruction on how to do so (holding your hand down and out and letting the horse move to you), they were allowed to pet him. The poor horse was terrified-- it was his first parade-- but he repeatedly let the girls pet his head and give him compliments.

Once the parade was over and we were back at my dad's house, Little Bits was ready to go! So out the door we went and back to my house where the girls played with sparklers and then lit a few fountain fireworks.

Of course, in my neighborhood a few is all you need because it is way more fun to watch on a blanket in the back yard. There is a 360 view of illegal ones going off in every direction.